what goes with gouramis

Celeste

Celeste

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Oct 31, 2005
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i have a 10 gallon tank that i just started cycling last night.

i KNOW i want a male blue neon dwarf gourami. none of the pet stores here sell female gouramis.

what else should i put in the tank? i was thinking of serpae tetras, but i'm not sure now. any help is appreciated.
 
Pretty much any peaceful community fish can go with dwarf gouramies. I had one, and all the fish in my tank went well with it. (You can click the link in my signature to see the other fish, although I admit my tank is a bit overstocked and that some of my fish do best in groups, but alas, I set up the tank a while ago and made newbie mistakes :( )
 
what about a few zebra danios? i like that they're pretty, but not so bright and showy that they'll detract from my gourami, which i want to be the centerpiece of the tank
 
I have 5 zebra danios in with my Gouramis. I have a male powder blue dwarf and a female flame dwarf gourami. I also have 6 cories, 3 oto cats and 3 mystery snails. Everyone gets along great!
 
I would avoid the serpae tetras, they can be really nippy without several of their own kind and in that size of a tank... I have 3 in QT right now (10g) and they are really going after each other. The 5 in my 180g tank school happily, are nice to each other and all the other fish in the tank too.

The zebras would be ok, but they might detract from the gourami just b/c they are such spastic fish!! What about just doing lots of plants and getting a few otos and a snail and some shrimp, something along those lines?
 
I hate zebra danios. The little buggers in my tank are constantly zipping around and chasing eachother. They're also freakin' pigs. They'll frequently consume any and all floating flakes before they even touch the gravel. They also tend to intimidate my honey gouramis with their behavior. The gouramis are kind of timid and just look at the zebras and seem to think, "What the hell is wrong with those guys?"

I don't know. Maybe they're just a little too active for my tastes. I will say that they are very hardy and don't seem to harass any of my other fish or ghost shrimp. They're just really, really active. I'm mostly annoyed by them because I would like to see my gouramis swim more towards the upper middle levels, like they're supposed to. But, because the zebras occupy this level, and because they're on crack, the gouramis don't tend to go up that high. Very disappointing. I'm thinking of seeing if my LFS will take them back for a credit or something. They're so cheap, though. I don't know what I could possibly get for them. Also, nothing in the research that I did said that they would be so hyperactive.

Bottom line; if you're not looking for speed freak fish, stay away from zebras.
 
Oh, and I wouldn't put otos in an uncycled tank. These are very delicate fish with rather specific food requirements.

Go to www.otocinclus.com for more info on them.

In a nut shell, here's the deal; otos are typically wild-caught because they're hard to breed. They usually poison the water with cyanide or some other toxin to stun the fish to the surface so they can be netted. They are very small and difficult to catch because their environment is filled with all kinds of logs, rocks and other various objects on the bottom. So, most of them are highly stressed and/or damaged from the get-go. Then, they're usually transported in less than ideal conditions with no algae to munch on. So, when they arrive at the pet store, they're poisoned and starved. You do the math. These guys aren't going to be too tolerant of the stresses of a cycling tank. Also, you really should only get one per 10 gallons since each individual needs a lot of algae to keep it going.

If you don't want danios in your final tank scheme, and your LFS will take them back, get like 6 danios and 3 of the smaller corydoras species (keep these guys). Don't go crazy on the feedings and watch your water chemistry. Use an airstone to maintain some aeration. Also, add a few plants. They look nice, they mellow the fish out and they eat ammonia and nitrates. They also eat CO2 and produce O2 (during the day, at least). You could conceivably cycle your tank in two+ weeks this way.
 
As stated the zebras would do fine. I have had the following with mine and had no problems: tiger barbs, buenas aries tetras, Red Rasbora, black phantom tetras, black skirt tetras, cardinal tetras, and guppies. Now every fish is different and some may not play as nice as others ;)
 
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